To understand the history and meaning of the bas-relief reproduced in
our illustration, we must first learn something of the worship of Athena
in her chosen city of Athens. An annual festival was held here in her
honor, and every four years occurred a very elaborate celebration called
the Panathen[ae]a. The Panathen[ae]a lasted several days, and attracted
throngs of people from all parts of Greece. There were contests in
gymnastics and music, torch-races, horse-races, feasts and dances.
Sacrifices of oxen were offered on the altar of the goddess, every state
having to furnish an ox for the purpose. The climax was reached on the
last day, when a great procession started at sunrise and traversed the
streets of the city to the temple of Athena. It is with this procession
that the bas-relief of our picture is connected, as we shall presently
see.
Some time before the festival a group of Athenian maidens of the noblest
families had made and embroidered for Athena a beautiful robe called the
_peplos_. This was carried above the procession, stretched like a sail
on the mast of a ship which was rolled through the street on wheels. The
pageant was made up of many different companies. There were the
Athenian magistrates, grave and dignified, maidens carrying sacrificial
vessels, men bearing trays of cakes, citharists (harpists) and
flute-players, old men with olive branches, four-horse chariots with
armed warriors, rows of young men mounted on prancing steeds, and
attendants with the cattle for the sacrifice.
During the invasion of Greece by the Persians, the temple of Athena in
Athens was destroyed by fire. Later, on its site, was erected another to
replace it, called the Parthenon. The city was now at the height of its
prosperity under the statesman Pericles. At this time also lived the
great sculptor Phidias, and to him Pericles intrusted the decoration of
the new temple.
The Parthenon was built of Pentelic marble, and the temple proper was
surrounded by a portico supported on rows of columns. The outside of the
building was richly adorned with bas-reliefs. There were designs in the
triangular spaces under the roof called _pediments_. Above the columns
ran a series of panels called _metopes_. Finally, there was a _frieze_
extending around the temple wall, to be seen from within the portico. It
is a bit of this frieze which is reproduced in our illustration.
[Illustration: London Stereoscopic Co., Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.